Preventing Particle Penetration

With residents' health increasingly dependent on a home's indoor air quality, ventilation strategies become more important than ever.

As anyone who has stood over a smoky campfire can attest, breathing in fine particles is a health hazard.The health risk associated with inhaling dust and other small particles is directly related to the level of exposure, which is why agencies such as the Ontario Ministry of the Environment have set up outdoor atmospheric sampling stations to measure the levels of fine particles in outdoor air. But given that people spend most of their time indoors, indoor particle exposure may be more important than outdoor exposure (see “Sources of Indoor Particles,” p. 14). Unfortunately, there is little or no information now about how different ways of building, heating, cooling, and ventilating a home affect how well it guards the occupants from fine particles coming in from the air outside.With asthma, allergies, and other respiratory ailments that are linked with indoor air quality (IAQ) on the rise, better IAQ means better health for consumers.And knowing what ventilation strategies provide the best IAQ can help consultants, contractors, and builders to design and build healthier homes. Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) is the federal agency responsible ...